My Family's Role in the World Revolution

Before we hit the serious business, a bit of light relief, courtesy of Jose Enrique.  He's not going to Liverpool for the money, he says.  How do we know he's lying.  This:

"My move is purely dependent on the sporting opportunity - not money.

"I want to fight for titles and I think it more possible to do that with Liverpool than Newcastle."

Quite the comedian - fight for titles?  Liverpool...

Main headline today is, just for a change, about Sneidjer.  More than ever it seems that he won't be joining us - unless there's a major change of heart somewhere - which seems unlikely.  The Guardian have a high up Man Utd source:

Although the Premier League champions did not want to go on the record, the official stance from Old Trafford is that the deal is not going to happen. The information comes from boardroom level, with the chief executive, David Gill, giving his approval for it to be known that United are not actively trying to sign the Dutchman.

 They go into more detail, which I won't bore everyone with, the only thing I'll comment on is the suggestion they make that his cost might be "beyond our means," which seems to imply that we should allow a player and/or club to hold us to ransom.  Throughout the saga it's seemed as if we could afford him, but we don't want him at the price.  The Independent sum up Sneidjer's apparent contradictory attitude:

A highly placed source at a Premier League club – not Manchester United – has told The Independent that Sneijder is desperate to leave Internazionale because of his belief that there is no prospect of substantial success there and his conviction that the club has not developed its squad since winning the Champions League in 2010. But wages matter more to the player than ambition: his basic weekly wage demands of at least £200,000 have been off the scale, for both United and Manchester City. United will not discuss, on or off the record, the reasons why Sneijder will not be joining them, though wages are likely to feature substantially.

A player who prefers money to trophies is not the type of player we want, at any price...

Elsewhere, Sir Alex dispels retirement talk.  Again:

"Now the situation has changed. You come to realise as you get older that you have been on the treadmill for such a long time, you don't want to get off it. So I will keep going, working."

And Sir Bobby Charlton sings Sir Alex's praises:

“The record of 19 league titles goes down purely to Alex Ferguson. It would not have been possible without him that’s for sure.

“He is the epitome of everything that is good about Manchester United and the ethos of this club. He knows the game inside out.

“The reason everybody performs to their best is that he is in control, not just of his staff and the first team, but the whole of the club. As a result, it operates in unison.

“There’s no point suggesting anybody else to be manager of Manchester United, there is no-one around who can fill his boots. I hope he can carry on for a long time yet."

Some quotes from Vidic are about, his talk of trophies should be sent to Sneijder as an example:

"If you want to play for Man United you have to win everything. You have to be successful, otherwise, new players come and you have to fight for your place. I still have hunger to play, hunger to win the trophies, and I'm really happy. As long as I think like that, I will be good but I would really like to win the FA Cup as well. I haven't won the FA Cup yet. This is the trophy I really want to win."

He even wants to win the Mickey Mouse cup... 

A quick look at Owen Hargreaves, not our player anymore but we can still take an interest.  He's considering an offer from West Brom.

Finally a couple of stories linking football to the riots.  First off a silly one where Gordon Taylor exhorts footballers to behave well because they can influence behaviour.  

...Taylor, who acknowledged that players have a “social responsibility’’, particularly during current tensions on the street.

“Players are celebrities, the new pop stars and film stars. Whatever they do is news. It’s only natural that you hope they could be role models. Maybe we can never eradicate crime, but we can give youngsters a hope they will get the opportunity to achieve. Sport can do that.”

They can stop riots by being nicer.  Brilliant.  Quite the solution to social ills.  Footballers being nice to one another.... The other is more sensible, also from The Telegraph, where Jim White looks at the charity that was going to be publicised by the postponed England friendly, and the postive role football (not footballers) can play in peoples lives:

Street League’s idea is a simple one: provide lots of football and then follow it up with the provision of education and training. In London and Glasgow, 800 young people are currently enrolled on the league’s eight week, full-time programme. They play football in the gym, then head to a classroom next door.

“During 20 years in youth work, I’ve found no tool as powerful as football,” says Matt Stevenson-Dodd, the league’s director. “Football itself doesn’t deliver good outcomes, it’s the hook to lure them in. It’s the opening of negotiations. We don’t say: if you come here we can get you a job. We say: come here and play football and let’s see what happens.”